Maria Hill's Interview At Stark Industries
by sudoku
Summary: Tony was very interested in attending the interview of Maria Hill at Stark Industries because he was just being Tony. What mayhem would he cause? Would Maria kill Tony by the end of the day? Would Pepper help?
1. The Pre-Interview

Thanks to the awesome Irish-Brigid for betaing this chapter for me.

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"Pepper, what time is Maria Hill's interview?" Tony rubbed his hands excitedly.

Pepper peered at him from behind a thick folder she was reading. "Why on earth are you interested in any interview, Tony? You usually just ignore the resumes I forward to you."

"I usually trust your judgment on our candidates. I don't want to bother my inventive brain for such trivialities that are better handled by lesser brains."

"Thanks, Tony. Your praise always means so much to me. If you don't mind, this lesser mind has a lot of things to catch up on before my two o'clock meeting. You know, lesser mind, needs more time to read to digest. Hush, hush!" She made a gesture like chasing the chickens away.

He just realized what he said. "What? No, no, that's not what I meant, Pepper. I swear, you're more capable than me. I just meant I wanted my mind to fully focus on new inventions rather than boring interviews."

"Yes, just let the lesser mind handle the interview. I get it."

Tony waved both hands in front of him wildly. "You know what I meant, Pepper. You're really smart and you always know what I want. You know I don't think you as less capable than me. It's the other way around, actually. Stark Industries would have collapsed ten years ago if not for your help. You're the best CEO, friend, girlfriend a guy could ask for. Happy now?"

Pepper wanted to act stern but looking at Tony's frantic expression, she took pity. She allowed a small smile. "Oh, you want Happy right now? You just missed him, he was just picking up some businessmen for my two o'clock."

"No, no, I don't mean Happy as the person. I was referring to happy as the adjective, as the opposite of sad. Stop that sly smile. Now I know you were just teasing me." Tony folded both his arms in front of his chest and pouted.

"Oh, did the lesser mind offend the inventive mind now? I'm so sorry. Since your brain is so advanced, you shouldn't be so petty with the lesser beings."

"Pepper, please stop. I made a mistake mentioning a lesser brain, OK. I'm sorry, I'm apologizing. Je m'excuserai. Me estoy disculpando. Sto scusando. Watashi wa shazai shite imasu. What other languages do you want me to speak? I can actually ask Jarvis to do it for me. JARVIS, what are the Chinese and Korean for I'm apologizing? I'll never get the tones right."

"That would be _Wǒ dàoqiàn_ for Chinese and _Naneun sagwa hago_ for Korean, sir!"

"Thanks, JARVIS. What more do you want, Pepper? Swahili? Hebrew? Latin? JARVIS!"

"You don't need to translate that, JARVIS. I get what Tony meant."

"Very well, ma'am."

"Stop wasting my time, Tony. I'm serious about the two o'clock meeting."

"But, Pepper, I really want to interview Maria Hill."

She raised one elegant eyebrow. "Why is the sudden interest in Maria Hill? You usually pretended that she didn't exist when you went to SHIELD's meetings. Unless there is something going on between you two …"

"No, no, nothing likes that. You're the only one for me now. Any SHIELD agent is too scary for me, especially the female ones. Have you met Natasha? Of course you have. I've had enough close encounters of the SHIELD kind to last me a few lifetimes."

"That pun is so lame, Tony."

"But it made you smile."

"Unfortunately, it did. My standards must be slipping. So why do you want to interview Maria Hill? Don't you trust me? Do you think I can't detect HYDRA?"

"Hill in HYDRA? You must be joking, Pepper. She's more of a by-the-book kind of agent than Fury ever was. There's no way she's HYDRA!"

"If you think people who go by the books can't be HYDRA, you need to move to another realm, Tony." She looked at the excited gleam in Tony's eyes and quickly amended. "OK, scratch that, I know you've been itching to go to visit Thor in Asgard. So, no, don't go to another realm. But I happen to know that she is not HYDRA from my own sources, so there, problem solved. Can you go away now? I really need to prepare for the meeting."

"No, no, I want to interview her not because I think she might be HYDRA I think such a high ranking official like the deputy director of SHIELD requires the full respect from Tony Stark, the chairman of Stark Industry, a member of the Avengers Initiative and the coolest, most modern, sexiest Avenger to boot."

"You just want to show off to Maria that you're going to be her new boss, don't you?"

Tony put his right hand over his heart. "You mock me, Pepper. How could you?" He then grinned. "You know me so well. As I said, best girlfriend ever. Since when are you in first name basis with her?"

"Tony, you know the interview is just for formality, right? I've decided to accept her as I know her well."

"Does she know that?"

"No."

"Will whatever I do or say in interview affect her chances?"

"Knowing everyone just tolerates you and I won't blame them if they want to kill you on the spot, no."

"So there's no harm in me attending. Otherwise I can be here all day until two o'clock."

Pepper massaged the bridge of her nose. "I guess so. If she decides to kill you on the spot, I might actually help her clean up your body. The interview will be at half past three here."

"Thanks, Pepper, you're the best." He rose and kissed her on both cheeks.

When he walked to the door, he turned back and asked, "Do you think I should wear an eye patch like Fury? Or should I just bring a life decoy model of Fury? I guess wearing the eye patch myself is easier."

"But, Tony…"

"You know, to make her feel at home like in SHIELD."

"But …"

"Bye, Pepper. See you at half past three."

From force of habit, Pepper let the apprehension of what Tony would do this time slide and focused back on reading her paper. However, she really couldn't assuage her horror for the upcoming interview. Poor Maria!

_To be continued_

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Please tell me what you think. Is there any particular thing you want to happen in the interview?


	2. Paper clips are very handy!

Thanks for the reviews, favs and alerts! Thanks to Irish-Brigid for betaing this chapter for me!

_Warning:_ Slight spoilers for Iron Man movies, some mild language.

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Tony walked into Pepper's room at twenty past three. She raised her eyebrows at his attire. He didn't not kid when he said he wanted to "make Maria feel at home." He was wearing a black shirt, black leather pants and a black leather overcoat. He was also really wearing an eye patch covering over his left eye. She was just thankful he didn't shave his head to get the complete look. Her on-and-off-Tony-induced-affair-with-migraine had resumed. "It's the first time you're early for a meeting ever. We should hire more high-ranking ex-SHIELD agents so you can turn up to meetings."

"Really? Who else? Do you want to hire Steve and Clint? I can't wait to be their boss." Seeing Pepper's astonished look, he said, "Oh, you were just being sarcastic." He dragged a chair and sat at the right side of Pepper.

"What are you doing?"

"Being your right hand man."

"Could you please just let me lead the interview? You just observe. Please don't mess this up! I really don't want you to leave this room in a body bag or several."

"Relax, Pepper. Maria can't kill me. She's a civilian now so she has no license to kill. Besides, if she tries something, l'll just call the Iron Man armor to protect me." He patted the suitcase next to him. She just noticed his bracelets. "I'm safe."

"Well, don't tell me that I didn't warn you. Now, please be quiet as I need to read this report."

Thankfully, Tony complied.

A few minutes later, Happy knocked, came in, and announced, "Ms. Pepper, your half-past-three-appointment has arrived."

Maria Hill walked in with her head held high. She looked stunning and intimidating at the same time in her dark-three-piece-suit and five-inch-stiletto-heels. Pepper rose up to shake her hands. "Thank you for coming, Maria."

"Thanks for having me, Pepper. What's he doing here? I thought our interview was going to be one on one." Only Maria could insert disgust and contempt in a very polite tone. Pepper needed to learn that trick from her.

"Oh, he's just observing. I told him that he needed to learn to interview, can't just leave it all to me." Maria raised her eyebrow and even Pepper herself couldn't believe what she said. She kicked Tony's chair and hissed, "Rise and shake Maria's hand."

Tony quickly rose and shook Maria's hand with both hands vigorously. "Welcome to the Stark Industries, Agent Hill."

Maria stared at Tony's eye patch then hid a smile. She pulled her hand from Tony's grasp. "I'm not an agent anymore in case you forget. Maria is sufficient." Pepper was surprised that she let Tony call her Maria. She guessed it would be weird if she addressed her Maria and Tony Ms. Hill.

Maria continued, "Mr Stark, I'm sorry that you had an accident with your left eye. I hope it heals soon. It'll be hard to operate the Iron Man suit with only one eye."

Tony was bewildered and reached out to touch his left eye. He just remembered about the eye patch. "Oh this, yes, very unfortunate. Dummy sprayed some gas into my eye. Doctor said it should be OK in a few days."

"Well, at least Dummy spared your right eye. Very considerate of him."

If only looks could kill, both Tony and Maria would be dead by now. Pepper quickly said, "Please have a seat, Maria. Do you need any refreshment?"

"Water's fine."

Pepper sat and pressed a buzzer and ordered the drink. She glanced to her right and saw Tony cross both hands behind his head and leaned back on her chair looking like he owned the place, which of course he did. She could feel tension in between her neck and shoulders so she drew deep breaths a few times as taught by her yoga instructor.

"Let's start. Why are you interested in Stark Industries?"

"Well, to be honest, with my skill sets, my options are CIA, FBI, or NSA. I think they're very suspicious that I may be HYDRA. So my options are private industries. Stark Industries being the leader, of course, is very enticing."

Tony looked very pleased with that. He asked, "May I know what you skill sets are?"

"I believe those have been listed in the CV I submitted to Pepper. I could command a team. I work well under pressure. I think outside the box. I…"

"No, not those boring skills. Could you kill a man with a spoon? Natasha has threatened me a few times. I'm not sure whether she could but I'm not _that curious _to find out."

Maria replied, "I don't think that question is relevant to the job that I'm applying for. I'll just give you a few hints. Paper clips, rubber bands, or toothbrushes work fine, too." She smiled and picked up a paper clip from the table.

Tony blanched and drew his chair a few inches back. "Your turn, Pep."

Pepper smiled. To think that she worried about Maria. She should have been more worried about Tony's health.

"Why should we choose you rather than other candidates for this role?"

"I've been working in a large organization where chaos is the nature." She smiled benignly at Tony. "I've the ability to observe what need to be done and give suggestions accordingly. I'm willing to stand my ground even if it's against the common norm. From what I heard about your interaction with your previous shareholders," this time she smiled at Pepper, "you need someone who is not afraid to go against the tide as long as I stand by my beliefs."

Pepper remembered her time with Obadiah Stane and nodded. She added, "Besides, paper clips help."

"Indeed. In fact, I can teach you a few skills using paper clips if you're interested. I promise you they're very handy."

Tony yelled, "Hell, no! Not you too, Pepper. It's bad enough that I live with two master assassins in the tower. The red head could kill me in 100 ways just using a spoon. I don't need another master assassin in the office. If you have the skills, Pepper, I won't be safe even in your office or in the bed..." Pepper coughed. "… In the boardroom or anywhere else."

Maria asked, "I'm confused why you're so worried. I just meant I can teach her how to fix paper jams and how to adjust an office chair using paper clips."

Tony stared at her incredulously. "Don't tell me that SHIELD had paper jams! You guys are like robots."

"Well, we did have paper jams more than I'd like to admit. Since SHIELD is no more, I guess it's OK to say it. I can show you both how to fix it now if you want me to."

Pepper quickly interrupted, "There is no need."

Maria smiled. "OK, next time then. And Mr Stark, there're actually 127 ways, not 100."

Tony gulped.

Thankfully, there was a knock on the door. Pepper asked the person to come in. Happy brought a tray. He put water in front of Maria, coffee for Pepper and to Pepper's chagrin, a bottle of beer for Tony.

Tony patted him on his shoulder. "You're the best!"

Happy walked out.

Pepper asked, "Isn't it too early for beer ? And at an interview?"

"Relax, Pep, It's already past 5 o'clock somewhere in the world. It's only one beer, I won't get drunk. Besides, I'm not the one being interviewed."

Pepper saw a lost cause when she saw one. She directed her gaze at Maria. "Let's continue. What do you think are your weaknesses?"

"Well, people say that I'm stickler for the rules. As I said before, it's not really the rules but what I think is right, which of course is not easy in this time to decide. I really don't know how to fix this but I don't think this weakness needs fixing. People say I'm not friendly enough or don't have a sense of humor." Maria looked at Tony when she said that. Pepper was not surprised that Tony suppressed a giggle, she shook her head. "However, if you want people with a sense of humor or friendly, then I'm not really suitable for this job in the first place. Some people say my drawing sucks but it's neither here nor there as you aren't hiring me for my drawing skills."

Pepper couldn't really disagree with her points as those were a few of the reasons she trusted Maria in the first place. "I guess as long as we don't ask you to draw then we're safe."

Tony asked, "What did you draw? Was it that bad? So you're human after all."

Pepper would like to put her face to her palms if she were not the CEO. "Please ignore him, Maria. We in the Stark Industries usually do unless we need his signatures."

Tony said, "Hey!"

Pepper ignored him. "What are your short term and long term plans with Stark Industries?"

"My short term plans are to get contracts for Stark Industries with all these government organizations. I know you're the leader in term of technology but I know slightly more about the ins and outs of these government organizations. I haven't worked out my long term plans but most likely I would build a team to check on credibility of our clients even if they're part of the government."

Pepper raised her eyebrows. "Can you actually _do_ that?"

Maria smiled again. "Yes, it might not be too legal but don't worry, I'll stick to the law, at least the letter of the law."

To think she had no sense of humor… Pepper could see why she had risen to the position of Deputy Director of SHIELD after merely a few years of joining. She was practically the right hand woman for Fury. Even Tony was impressed given he opened his mouth slightly and hadn't closed it.

"Well, no more questions from me but I think you may want to ask me questions instead."

"Not so fast," Tony quickly interrupted. "I have a few questions of my own."

"Tony, I've heard what I need to know from the interview. There is no need!"

"But Pep, I want to test how quick Maria thinks on the spot."

"I know how well she does that. She survived SHIELD for so long."

"But Pep, I prepared some questions."

Pepper looked apologetically at Maria. "You can ignore him. Do you have any questions for me?"

"That's OK, Pepper. I don't mind answering a few questions from Mr Stark."

"There is no need to. It's enough for me."

"I want to get the job based on my own merits, not from some connection with people in higher places so I'm really fine answering his questions."

"Your interview answers are enough for my decision."

"That's really fine, I can answer his questions."

"OK, don't say I didn't warn you." Pepper whispered, "Your funeral," under her breath. She was sure Maria heard it because she actually smiled and sat up straighter.

Tony rubbed his hands and his eyes had this mischievous glint that Pepper recognize too well. She looked at Maria and surprisingly Maria also had the posture of preparing to strike, quite literally for her case, for any challenges Tony threw. She seemed to be measuring Tony._ Oh no, this can't be good!_

Then quite suddenly Maria relaxed. She said, "Let me drink my water first." She moved her chair forward and bumped into Tony's suitcase. She quickly straightened the suitcase up. "I'm so sorry, Mr Stark." She then picked up the water and drank.

She seemed to take a deliberate time to finish her water. She then finally put her glass down and faced Tony. "I'm ready!"

Pepper thought it looked like watching a matador and a bull but she wasn't sure who the matador was. _It really would end in tears._

"Thanks for being willing to answer my questions. First question, Thor and Hulk were in a fight. Who would win?"

This time, Pepper really put her head on her palms and her migraine was back with a vengeance.

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_**Note:**_

-What do you think? Any comments are appreciated.

-Do you have any suggestions on what questions Tony would ask?


	3. Who would win in a fight?

Thanks to the awesome IrishBrigid for betaing this chapter for me. Also thanks for the favs, reviews, and alerts. This chapter contains some of the readers' suggestions. There are too many to credit one by one but you know which one is yours. Thanks for the suggestions.

**Summary:** Pepper might worry for nothing because Maria had too many aces up her sleeves.

**Warnings:** Some language by Tony and some slight bashing at Batman and very minor spoilers for Batman, Sherlock Holmes, and Game of Thrones.

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"Thanks for being willing to answer my questions. First question, Thor and Hulk were in a fight. Who would win?"

"Does Thor have his hammer? If he is, there may be 50-50 chance."

"Well, I give you three options."

"Three, but there are only two parties... Wait, do you mean YOU will be the winner? I think the answer is Iron Man."

"Maria, I think you're not as straight laced as I thought. I'm impressed."

Pepper's migraine was now fully blossoming. She felt like putting her palm on her face but she opted for massaging her temples. "Really, Tony? That's your answer. How egocentric are you?" Looking at Tony's expression, she quickly said, "Please don't answer that. Do we still need to go on with this circus?"

"Come on, Pep. This's fun. Look at Maria, she seems to be excited."

Pepper looked at Maria's face. Her eyes indeed gleamed with determination. "That's OK, Pepper. Since I'll be working here, I want everyone to accept me due to my merits, not some connection. I really don't mind answering Mr Stark's questions."

Pepper thought she saw a mischief glint in her eyes but it was gone soon then she looked as professional as ever. Must have been a play of the light.

"Who is the best looking Avenger?"

Pepper interrupted, "What has it got to do with her job?"

Maria looked Tony straight in the eyes and replied, "I'd like to say Natasha but I have a feeling you may have some perverted thought with that response. Therefore, I'd say Tony Stark."

Pepper winced and closed her eyes.

Tony beamed. "I'm impressed, you're really bright. I can see why you were appointed as the Deputy Director so soon."

Pepper opened her eyes and punched Tony's in the shoulder not-too-lightly. "Really, Tony?"

"Pep, be professional, we're in the middle of an interview here. What will Maria think of us if we fight in front of her?"

Pepper stole a glance at Maria. She looked as impassive as ever, too impassive for her liking. She realized both of them were mad and she was right in the middle of it. At least Natasha would give veiled threats to Tony. Maria was totally different. She was still an unknown factor, unpredictable. Tony must be an idiot to antagonize her. _Who __is__ she kidding?_ Tony had always been an idiot, ironically when he was actually a genius. If she didn't stop this madness, Tony might need to leave in several body bags. Then she shrugged, besides the mess on the carpet, perhaps that was not a bad thing. Maria may even have some tips how to get rid of bodies easily. That may come in handy. But she didn't really want to get rid of a lot of people. Only Tony. _Oh God, what have I been thinking? These two people made me contemplate murder._

Maria merely shrugged and waved her right hand dismissively "That's OK, if you want to have arguments, please do. I'm used to it as I often fought with Directory Fury myself."

Tony looked like an awestruck fanboy. "Did you? I didn't know. You're officially my hero."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Tony, does it mean we can finish the interview now?"

"No, no, Pepper. I have prepared a few questions during the ten minutes of my workshop time. Do you know how important my workshop time is?"

Unfortunately, Pepper knew it too well. He couldn't even spare time to eat or sleep so these questions must be a big deal for him. "OK then, you can continue the interview but please wrap it up soon as I have another meeting in half an hour."

"Maria, before I forget, can I look at your resume?"

Pepper quickly replied, "Tony, I forwarded her resume to your inbox today."

"But I haven't seen it since I prepare for this interview." Pepper translated it in her brain as Tony shopping for Fury's garb this afternoon. He looked at Maria, "Do you have an extra resume?"

Maria smiled brightly, too brightly which Pepper found disconcerting. "Sure, Mr Stark." She took her resume from her handbag and gave it to Tony.

Tony glanced and looked dismayed. "What the hell? Why are all of the lines redacted?"

Maria replied sweetly. "Not all are redacted, there's still some information in there."

Tony gesticulated wildly. "But the only non-redacted information is you name, contact address and your school information. I can get all this info myself in under three minutes. I really want to know what you did in SHIELD."

"Do you mean besides fighting with Fury or learning 127 ways to kill people with a paper clip?" She picked up a paper clip not too subtly."What more do you want to know? I really have sent the full resume to Pepper."

Pepper agreed, "Yes, she did give me the non-redacted resume."

"Why couldn't you give me the same version as Pepper's?" whined Tony.

"Because I intended to go for a one-on-one interview with Pepper, I didn't expect you would be here. If you want to read the full version, you can just retrieve the one she forwarded to you."

Tony didn't think of that."But, why did you carry a redacted resume then?"

"It's more like my calling card when I go to apply for some jobs offline. Do you think the CIA or NSA would accept an email containing my resume and believe it's mine? I need to go there personally and leave those resumes."

Pepper couldn't fault that line of thinking. It was unconventional. But again she didn't know enough of the recruitment process for SHIELD, CIA, NSA and the other three-letter government organizations. Running Stark Industries seemed to be much simpler than the art of applying for those jobs.

Tony pouted. "OK, you win this round. Should we go for the next questions?"

Maria answered, "Sure. As long as Pepper still has some free time."

Pepper allowed herself a small smile. "Be my guest, as long as you wrap it up within half an hour." Tony had finally met his match. Maria was scarier than Natasha. Natasha's threat was obvious. However, Maria would appear to agree with whatever her challenger said, then she would strike back very subtly which people would miss if they didn't pay attention. She hoped Tony was smart enough to notice this trait of Maria. She secretly wished she had popcorn with her.

"Batman and Sherlock Holmes were in a fight. Who would win?"

Maria gave him a "What's wrong with you? Why your questions are always about who would win?" look. "Which Batman? Bale, Kilmer, Clooney, Keaton, or should I go back further? Or do you want the comic Batman? Which Sherlock? Cumberbatch, the guy who looked like you, or Sherlock from older movies or books?" Realization dawned on her. "Let me guess, the Sherlock who looked like you wins."

Pepper suppressed a giggle. It seemed Maria had predicted what Tony thought. She didn't realize that Tony did look like Robert Downey Jr. She also didn't realize that Maria was that knowledgeable about Batman. She guessed it went with her territory as a SHIELD agent to know about superheroes. For Sherlock Holmes, perhaps she was just a fan of Arthur Conan Doyle?

Tony looked equally in awe. "Now, now, you just said that to make me happy. Can you give me the reasons to convince me though?"

"I admit I haven't watched older movies for Batman or Sherlock. For newer Batman movies, I think the decent movies were by Keaton and Bale. However, I couldn't remember much about Keaton's Batman. I think Bane was awesome but I hated The Dark Knight Rising. Batman spent half of his time being beaten by the bad guys and Catwoman was the one who actually got things done." Tony's jaw dropped at her answer. She continued, "As for modern adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, both Cumberbatch and Robert Downer Jr. are great. I just find that Robert Downer Jr.'s version is more well-versed in fighting than Cumberbatch's."

Tony bounced at his seat. "Wow, you're really awesome, Maria. You convinced me although I did agree with your answer in the first place."

Pepper wonder how Maria could be so well-versed in these topics. She could ask her next time in private. "Tony, you seem to really like Maria. Do you think we can finish now?"

"One more question, Pepper, then I'm done. I just don't want this question to go to waste."

Pepper nodded.

Tony asked, "Who do you think will get the Iron Throne in Game of Thrones?"

Pepper said, "Tony, enough with your nerdy questions and your obsession with Game of Thrones." She looked at Maria. "You don't have to answer this. Sorry, he has been so obsessed with the show. I've told him not everyone is into it."

Maria offered her a smile, a genuine one this time. "That's OK, as a matter of fact, most of SHIELD, including Fury and I, watched Game of Thrones. It's full of intrigues so we could learn a thing or two. I mean we're busy saving the world but we need some occasional downtime. I also often have the same question myself. Shall I say the answer is one of the Starks? Arya Stark perhaps?"

Tony said, "You're saying that just because of the family name. Don't worry, I don't really associate the Starks with my Stark, Who do you think will win?"

Maria contemplated her answer. "Well, since every candidate has an equal chance because George R.R. Martin is unpredictable like that. Who knows if the current candidate will get killed off …" Both Tony and Pepper shuddered at the mention of the deaths. " … or there may be a new candidate. To be honest, it's really hard to tell. I'm rooting for Daenerys because, you know, dragons."

Tony grinned widely. "Cool, I'm rooting for her, too, for the same reason."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Tony rooted for her because of the dragons and also, pardon me, her cleavage."

Maria hid her smile with a cough.

Tony defended, "Come on, boobs like that shouldn't go to waste. Besides, she had a lot of people on her side who were willing to die for her."

Maria added. "If there's any consolation, a few SHIELD employees and I intended to bring in George R.R. Martin for questioning. As in questioning who will get the Iron Throne as the suspense is killing us. Yes, we were crazy like that. Thankfully, Fury put a stop to the madness."

Tony looked like he might kiss Maria's hands. "Wow, you're really really awesome. If it were up to me, you would get the job on the spot. But Pepper spoiled all the fun as she needed to think it over."

Pepper finally allowed herself to relax. Tony finally accepted Maria. If she recruited Maria, she would be on her side and that would help her deal with Tony. "You know what, Tony? I thought it over while you conducted the interview." She airquoted the word interview. "I decided that Maria's qualifications are enough for her applied position." She leaned forward and shook Maria's hand. "Welcome to Stark Industries, Maria!"

Maria seemed genuinely surprised by the news. "Well, that's a first," Pepper thought.

"Thanks, Pepper, I'm happy to join the team, too."

Tony stood up and hugged Maria. "Welcome to the coolest company on earth with the coolest, handsomest Avenger." Both Maria and Pepper rolled their eyes. "I didn't know you were as nerdy as me. You're welcome to our Avengers weekly nerdy discussion, which is so boring. Only Clint and I are interested in nerdy stuff and Clint is often away on assignments. The rest apparently think real life stuff is more interesting than nerdy stuff." It was Tony's turn to roll his eyes.

"Thanks for the invite, Mr. Stark."

"Please call me Tony."

"Thanks, Tony. I'm sure I'll enjoy it. When do I start work?"

Pepper smiled. "How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is fine. It's not as if my agenda is full. By the way, I need to do something first." She picked up Tony's Iron Man suitcase.

"What are you doing?" Tony yelled.

"I just need to do this." She showed the case to Tony and Pepper. She drew a paper clip from the latch.

"What did you do?" Tony asked.

"Ah, I was worried that the interview might not go so well. Given your reputation, I might have strangled you. I knew you brought the Iron Man suit in case you had to protect yourself from me. I couldn't have that. So I jammed your case with a paper clip so it couldn't be opened. I planned to remove it after the interview was over. But since I got accepted, I removed it in front of you to show my good will."

Tony blushed. "You knew me too well. I like you. You're scary, but you've got style. What if there was an urgent Avengers business when the suitcase was jammed?"

Maria looked at him indignantly. "Of course, I would remove it if it were to happen without your notice."

Pepper finally snapped. She laughed and laughed. Both of them looked at her in concern.

"Are you OK?" Tony asked.

"I'm fine. I haven't had a good laugh for a while. I was worried that Tony might upset you, Maria, but you seemed to handle him well, too well." She laughed again. Tomorrow onward would be interesting with Maria on board. She was sure there would be conflicts between Tony and Maria or even the rest of the Avengers despite how the interview went relatively well but tomorrow was another day!

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**Note:**

-Actually I meant to have the interview more antagonistic but somehow they ended up more friendly and I couldn't force my muse to make them unfriendly. That's why I wrote that Maria jammed the suitcase but they never got into a fight.

-I might write a sequel about "Maria Hill's Days at Stark Industries" which of course is about Maria's working there and dealing with the Avengers. What do you think of that? Any suggestion for that story is welcome. I may need to update "Discovering Fanfiction," "Steve and Thor Get the References," and other fanfictions first in the meantime.

-Please tell me what you think of this chapter.


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